Floating facility mounted with power plant

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a floating facility mounted with a power plant. The floating facility mounted with a power plant includes: at least one power generator room disposed respectively in both ends within a hull of the floating facility; and at least one fuel tank disposed in a central portion within the hull.

CROSS-REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0120522, filed on 2012 Oct. 29, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a floating facility mounted with a power plant, and more particularly, to a floating facility in which at least one power generator room is disposed respectively in both ends within a hull of the floating facility and at least one fuel tank is disposed in a central portion within the hull.

2. Description of the Related Art

Natural gas is fossil fuel that predominantly contains methane and also contains a small amount of ethane, propane, and the like. Natural gas has recently attracted much attention as a low-pollution energy source in various technical fields.

Natural gas may be carried in a gaseous state, or may be carried to a remote consumer while being stored in an LNG carrier in a state of liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is obtained by cooling natural gas to a cryogenic temperature (approximately, −163° C. or less). Since LNG is reduced to about 1/600 the volume of natural gas which is in a gaseous state, it is very suitable for long-distance marine transportation.

Recently, due to the depletion of energy reserved in the land, various marine resources have been actively developed, and many countries have competitively secured and developed oil wells and gas wells for mining crude oil or natural gases in the sea.

In these circumstances, as facilities for producing LNG in the sea, a lot of floating offshore facilities, such as Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (LNG FPSO) or Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (LNG FSRU), have been developed.

Since LNG is relatively low in price and causes less air pollution, LNG can be appropriately used as a power generation fuel.

Conventionally, power plants using LNG as fuel have been usually installed in the land, in particular, the shore where the supply and demand of raw materials are facilitated and costs for securing a site are low.

There is a need for techniques that can mount a power plant in a ship or marine facility that may be appropriately disposed in a place convenient for the supply and demand of raw materials or in a place requiring power supply so as to generate power, while reducing purchase costs of plant sites and costs for foundation work, beyond the form of power plants fixed to the land.

In addition, there is an increasing need for techniques that can provide a power plant in a floating marine facility, such as a barge, to supply required electricity from the marine facility itself or can produce a great deal of electricity in the sea and transmit power to the land.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a barge 1 mounted with a power plant. A fuel tank 13 is loaded in a hull 11 of the barge 1, and various facilities 20 of the power plant are loaded on a deck of the barge 1.

When the power plant is installed in the floating marine facility, such as the barge, power generation and transmission facilities may cause a fire due to spark, short circuit, or the like. Therefore, besides the power plant, a safety device may be installed in the floating marine facility in order for fire prevention.

Furthermore, floating marine facilities, such as LNG FPSO, which drill, produce, refine, and store crude oil or gas, deal with explosive gas. Therefore, the marine facilities are exposed to high risk of fire and explosion due to leakage of explosive gas. Hence, in preparation for such risk, it is necessary to install a variety of safety equipment.

As such, the existing floating marine facilities, which deal with explosive gases or materials, require a variety of additional facilities for preventing explosion. However, if a variety of safety equipment is further provided to a variety of facilities of the power plant on the deck of the floating marine facilities, installation space for other facilities or working space may be reduced.

In addition, if power plants comprising a power generator room and a power transmission facility, and additional facilities for safety are all mounted on the topside of the floating marine facility, self-weight of the floating marine facility increases to cause problems in the structure of the floating marine facility. The center of gravity of the floating marine facility is concentrated on the topside. Therefore, it may be difficult to maintain the stability and balance of the floating marine facility.

These problems make it difficult to mount a large power plant in a marine facility so as to produce a great deal of power, and only small-scale power generation may be made to the extent that electricity required for the marine facility itself is supplied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is directed to a floating facility in which a power generator room is disposed under a deck of the marine facility such that the power generator room and a fuel tank provided inside a hull are balanced within the marine facility, thereby lowering the center of gravity and securing a space above the deck.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a floating facility mounted with a power plant includes: at least one power generator room disposed respectively in both ends within a hull of the floating facility; and at least one fuel tank disposed in a central portion within the hull.

The center of gravity of the floating facility may be lowered by disposing the power generator room and the fuel tank within the hull.

Ballast tanks may be disposed respectively in both ends of the floating facility.

The weight of both ends of the floating facility may be reduced by filling the ballast tanks with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel in the fuel tank is consumed.

At least one transmission tower may be provided in an upper deck of the power generator room to transmit electricity produced in the power generator room to the exterior of the floating facility.

Fuel used for power generation in the power generator room may be liquefied natural gas (LNG), and a vaporizer for vaporizing the LNG stored in the fuel tank and supplying the vaporized LNG to the power generator room as power generation fuel may be provided on an upper deck of the floating facility.

The power generator room is partitioned into a plurality of sub power generator rooms, and watertight bulkheads are provided between the sub power generator rooms.

A plurality of main engines is provided in the power generator room, and the plurality of main engines are provided to face opposite directions.

A space ratio of the at least one power generator room to the at least one fuel tank within the hull of the floating facility may range from 30:70% to 50:50%.

The power generator room may generate power by using an ME-GI engine as a main engine.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an arrangement method of a floating facility mounted with a power plant includes: a power generator room and a fuel tank disposed under a deck of the floating facility, wherein the power generator room is disposed in both ends under the deck, the fuel tank is disposed in a central portion under the deck, and a space ratio of the power generator room to the fuel tank ranges from 30:70% to 50:50%.

A transmission tower may be provided in an upper deck of the power generator room to transmit electricity produced in the power generator room.

Ballast tanks may be disposed respectively in both ends of the floating facility, and the weight of both ends of the floating facility may be reduced by filling the ballast tanks with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel in the fuel tank is consumed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a barge mounted with a power plant.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a floating facility mounted with a power plant according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of power generator rooms according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   F: Floating facility     -   D: Deck     -   100: Power generator room     -   105: Sub power generator room     -   110: Main engine     -   120: Firewalls     -   200: Fuel tank     -   300: Ballast tank     -   400: Transmission tower

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the disclosure, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the drawings and embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a floating facility F mounted with a power plant according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a floating facility F mounted with a power plant according to an embodiment of the present invention includes at least one power generator room 100 disposed in both ends within a hull of the floating facility F, and at least one fuel tank 200 disposed in a central portion within the hull.

The term “floating facility F” as used herein collectively refers to all floating offshore platform that floats on the sea. The floating facility F includes not only any floating offshore platform with self propulsion device but also any one that is towed to the offshore by a tugboat without propellers. For example, the floating facility F may be a barge.

In this embodiment, the center of gravity of the floating facility F may be lowered by disposing the power generator room 100 and the fuel tank 200 within the hull.

In the power generator room 100, heavy power generating units, such as a main engine and a power generator, are installed. Since the power generator room 100 is provided within the hull, not above the deck D, and the heavy power generating units are installed within the power generator room 100, the center of gravity of the floating facility F can be lowered to the lower portion of the hull, thereby enhancing stability and easily balancing the hull. In addition, since the power generator room 100 is disposed in both ends of the floating facility F, without deviating to one side, the balance of the floating facility F can be easily maintained, even when an engine or power generator is additionally installed within the power generator room 100 so as to increase power generation capacity.

Ballast tanks 300 may be provided in both ends of the floating facility F.

The weight of both ends of the floating facility F may be reduced by filling the ballast tanks 300 with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel in the fuel tank 200 is consumed.

As described above, heavy power generating units are provided in the power generator room 100. If the all fuel stored in the fuel tank 200 is consumed through power generation, the weight of the power generator rooms 100 disposed in both ends of the floating facility F is still heavy, whereas the weight of the central portion of the floating facility F becomes light. In such a state, the weight is concentrated on only both ends of the floating facility F. Therefore, the hull may be deformed, and, if serious, cracks may be generated in the central portion of the hull. As a result, the hull may be broken into two parts.

In order to prevent such a risk, the ballast tanks 300 may be disposed respectively in both ends of the floating facility F. The problem that the weight is concentrated on only both ends of the floating facility is solved in such a manner that the weight of both ends of the floating facility is gradually reduced by filling the ballast tanks 300 with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel of the fuel tank 200 is consumed.

As in the conventional floating marine facility or ship, a hull sidewall ballast tank (not shown) and a lower ballast tank (not shown) may also be provided. For example, ballast tanks may be provided in an outside of sidewall and lower side of the fuel tank 200 within the hull.

At least one transmission tower 400 for transmitting electricity produced in the power generator room 100 to the exterior of the floating facility F may be provided right on the upper deck D of the power generator room 100.

The transmission tower 400 may be provided in consideration of power capacity. Since the transmission tower 400 is disposed right on the upper deck D of the power generator room 100, a main cable of the transmission tower 400 may be directly connected to the power generator room 100. Therefore, a distance for transmission of produced electricity can be reduced, and a high-voltage power transmission line provided in the floating facility F can be minimized.

The fuel used for power generation in the power generator room 100 may be LNG.

A vaporizer (not shown) for vaporizing LNG stored in the fuel tank 200 and supplying the vaporized LNG to the power generator room 100 as power generation fuel may be provided on the upper deck D of the floating facility F.

A space ratio of at least one power generator room 100 to at least one fuel tank 200 within the hull of the floating facility F may be 30:70% to 50:50%, and more preferably, 40:60%.

The power generator room 100 may generate power by using a ME-GI engine as a main engine 110.

The ME-GI engine is an engine that can be used in a vessel. The ME-GI engine is a high pressure natural gas injection engine for an LNG carrier, which has been developed and used for reducing emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur oxide (SOx). The ME-GI engine may be installed in a marine facility, such as an LNG carrier, which carries LNG in a state that LNG is stored in a storage tank capable of withstanding an extremely low temperature. The ME-GI engine may use natural gas as fuel. The ME-GI engine requires a high gas supply pressure of about 150 to 400 bara (absolute pressure) according to a load thereof.

Even the marine facility equipped with the high pressure natural gas injection engine such as the ME-GI engine still requires a re-liquefaction facility in order to process a boil off gas (BOG) generated from the LNG storage tank. When compared with a diesel engine having the same output power, the ME-GI engine has attracted much attention as a next-generation environmentally-friendly engine that can reduce 23% of carbon dioxide, 80% of nitrogen compound, and 95% or more of sulfur compounds.

In this embodiment, the ME-GI engine is disposed in the power generator room 100 of the floating facility F and is used as a main engine 110 to generate power. In the power generator room 100, a generator employing an alternator generating an AC current by using electromagnetic induction may be provided in a shaft of the main engine 110.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the power generator room 100 may be partitioned into a plurality of sub power generator rooms 105, and firewalls 120 are provided between the sub power generator rooms 105. The firewalls 120 may be installed with watertight bulkheads, and the watertight bulkheads may be A-60 bulkheads that can prevent penetration of smoke and flame for about sixty minutes.

A plurality of main engines 110 may be installed within the power generator room 100. If a fire occurs in the power generator room un-partitioned, all the main engines may be burned down, resulting in discontinuation of power generation. According to the embodiment, in order to solve these problems, a power generator room 100 is partitioned into sub power generator rooms 105, and firewalls 120 are formed between the sub power generator rooms 105. The firewalls 120 can prevent the spread of fire, and prevent the discontinuation of power generation caused by the burning down of all the main power engines 110. In addition, due to a watertight property, the firewalls 120 can prevent the sinking of a hull even when a part of the power generator room 100 is damaged. Due to the partition into the sub power generator rooms 105, fire suppression is facilitated.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of main engines 110 provided within the power generator room 100 may be arranged such that the adjacent main engines face each other in opposite directions. For example, when an alternator part of one main engine is arranged in the portside direction, an alternator part of another adjacent main engine is arranged to face the starboard direction.

If the plurality of main engines is arranged in the same direction, excitation forces by rotation during the driving of the main engines face the same direction. Thus, while the excitation forces increase, severe vibration may be caused in the plant. On the contrary, according to the embodiment, since the adjacent main engines are arranged to face the opposite directions, the excitation forces of the adjacent main engines are generated in the opposite directions. Therefore, the excitation forces generated by rotation during the driving of the main engines may be cancelled to reduce the vibration of the plant.

In an arrangement method of a floating facility F mounted with a power plant according to another embodiment of the present invention, at least one power generator room 100 and at least one fuel tank 200 are disposed under a deck D of the floating facility F. Specifically, the power generator room 100 is disposed respectively in both ends under the deck D, and the fuel tank 200 is disposed in a central portion under the deck D. A space ratio of the power generator room 100 to the fuel tank 200 ranges from 30:70% to 50:50%.

A transmission tower 400 for transmitting electricity produced in the power generator room 100 may be disposed right on the upper deck D of the power generator room 100.

Ballast tanks 300 may be provided in both ends of the floating facility F. The weight of both ends of the floating facility F may be reduced by filling the ballast tanks 300 with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel of the fuel tank is consumed.

As described above, in the floating facility F mounted with the power plant according to the embodiment, since at least one power generator room 100 is disposed in one both ends within the hull and at least one fuel tank 200 is disposed in the central portion within the hull, the center of gravity can be lowered and a space can be secured in the upper portion of the deck D of the floating facility F.

In addition, the ballast tanks 300 are provided in both ends of the floating facility F, and the balance of the floating facility F can be maintained by adjusting water levels of the respective ballast tanks 300 according to the weight reduced as the fuel stored in the fuel tank 200 is consumed while a power generator is driven.

Since the power generator room 100 is disposed within the hull to lower the center of gravity, large power generating units can be mounted to generate a great deal of power, without concern causing matters about the structure of the floating facility F or balance of the floating facility F.

Also, a sufficient space can be secured in the upper portion of the deck D. Therefore, when other facilities are disposed in the upper portion of the deck D, a space may be allocated in consideration of working efficiency, without restriction of the spatial arrangement due to the power generating units and various pipes or lines for power generation.

In addition, since there are sufficient working spaces on the upper portion of the deck D, a working environment of operators can be significantly improved. Therefore, a safety accident while working can be reduced.

As described above, in the floating facility mounted with the power plant according to the embodiments of the present invention, since at least one power generator room is disposed in both ends within the hull of the floating facility and at least one fuel tank is disposed in the central portion within the hull, the center of gravity of the floating facility can be lowered and a space can be secured in the upper portion of the deck of the floating facility. Also, since the ballast tanks are provided in at both ends of the floating facility, the balance of the floating facility can be maintained by adjusting water levels of the respective ballast tanks according to the weight reduced as the fuel stored in the fuel tank is consumed while a power generator is driven.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A floating facility mounted with a power plant, comprising: at least one power generator room disposed respectively in both ends within a hull of the floating facility; and at least one fuel tank disposed in a central portion within the hull.
 2. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein the center of gravity of the floating facility is lowered by disposing the power generator room and the fuel tank within the hull.
 3. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein ballast tanks are disposed respectively in both ends of the floating facility.
 4. The floating facility according to claim 3, wherein the weight of both ends of the floating facility is reduced by filling the ballast tanks with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel in the fuel tank is consumed.
 5. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein at least one transmission tower is provided in an upper deck of the power generator room to transmit electricity produced in the power generator room to the exterior of the floating facility.
 6. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein fuel used for power generation in the power generator room is liquefied natural gas (LNG), and a vaporizer for vaporizing the LNG stored in the fuel tank and supplying the vaporized LNG to the power generator room as power generation fuel is provided on an upper deck of the floating facility.
 7. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein the power generator room is partitioned into a plurality of sub power generator rooms, and watertight bulkheads are provided between the sub power generator rooms.
 8. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of main engines is provided in the power generator room, and the plurality of main engines are provided to face opposite directions.
 9. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein a space ratio of the at least one power generator room to the at least one fuel tank within the hull of the floating facility ranges from 30:70% to 50:50%.
 10. The floating facility according to claim 1, wherein the power generator room generates power by using an ME-GI engine as a main engine.
 11. An arrangement method of a floating facility mounted with a power plant, comprising: at least one power generator room and at least one fuel tank disposed under a deck of the floating facility, wherein the power generator room is disposed respectively in both sides under the deck, the fuel tank is disposed in a central portion under the deck, and a space ratio of the power generator room to the fuel tank ranges from 30:70% to 50:50%.
 12. The arrangement method according to claim 11, wherein a transmission tower is provided on an upper deck of the power generator room to transmit electricity produced in the power generator room.
 13. The arrangement method according to claim 11, wherein ballast tanks are disposed in both ends of the floating facility, and the weight of both ends of the floating facility is reduced by filling the ballast tanks with seawater first and then discharging the seawater when fuel in the fuel tank is consumed. 